"WASH that man - or woman right out of your mind". American Susan Dunlop has come to town.

Susan, a trained hypnotherapist, acclaimed for her divorce recovery classes, has moved from Florida to York.

She has established A Luminous Life Hypnotherapy in Fulford, offering "divorce recovery" sessions as well as hypnotherapy to aid weight loss and smoking cessation and to help with stress, grief and anxiety.

The former actress and director says her workshops are already well-established and very popular in the US.

Susan, originally from Florida, has also lived all over the world, including Israel, France, Canada, the Virgin Islands and Ireland.

As well as holding two BA degrees from American universities, an MA from a Canadian university and a certification from the American Academy of Hypnotherapy, Susan is a member of the National Guild of Hypnotists, the National Council for Hypnotherapy and the International Association of Counsellors. In addition, Susan is an ordained minister.

She said: "In the US, there is a well-established- and massively publicised - and utilised - network of divorce recovery workshops, support-groups and therapists.

"One such workshop helped me immensely when my own 20-year marriage ended.

"The experience was so life-changing that I have been passionately committed to conducting divorce recovery hypnotherapy and workshops ever since. I am already receiving a lot of interest in the classes from people in the region.

"Hypnosis is used much more widely than ever before to treat everything from obesity to panic attacks.

"It is also used extensively in the professional world to help people with academic achievement, performance anxiety, positive thinking and sports excellence.

"It's a dynamic tool which is capable of producing profound, lasting results for anyone determined to make positive changes in their life.

"I decided to settle in North Yorkshire after spending most of my life travelling around the world.

"The beautiful area and the welcoming people have always kept me coming back and I already feel like I have been living here for many years."